Spruce (Picea?) recovering from poor care. Not sure what to do. Advice needed.

[BearSeattle]

Hi, I've had this tree for about 3 years and it is probably about 5-7 years old. I had some friends taking care of it and they misunderstood what it needed, so when I got it looked like it had dried out, and started to die, but then had some new growth. I like the shape I was getting before it got stressed. Now it feels too leggy. Can I prune some of these growing clumps back and will it back bud to fill in a little more?
This is what it looked like before it almost died. This is from summer 2022. I left it with them for a week in June 2023.


And this is what it looks like now, about 7 months of recovery.



I am thinking of trimming in the red areas. Shape wise I was planning on letting it continue to grow to the right and down, and keep the left about the current size. But any trimming/shaping advice is welcome.

 

[bwaynef]

Its probably imperative that you understand that this is a Juniper and not a spruce. That changes how its treated.

The first thing I'd suggest is repotting it into lava, akadama, and pumice. Make the resulting soil-level flat and just below the lip of the pot. I assume you're in Seattle by your username, but I'd still suggest getting rid of the moss and leaving it off. Sometimes moss has its place, particularly if its easy to grow, but this doesn't look like the kind I'd encourage anyway.

Clean off any weak/dead foliage then let it recover. You'll know its recovered when it starts to grow runners/whips.

That is all I would do with this tree. It is weak and needs to grow to gain strength. Once its strong you can start thinking about styling and pruning decisions.

 

[pandacular]

Maria at Heartwoods Bonsai sells pre sorted (and sifted-ish) soil. Nice little local store and nursery that I’d recommend. I agree with the above advice. I’ve found that adding collected moss as a top dressing is challenging to get look good, but I do top dress all my trees with shredded sphagnum with some collected local moss mixed in—that second part is really hardly necessary, as within one fall moss will be growing regardless of what you do around here, but it does let you pick the variety of moss that will grow.

 

[BearSeattle]

Thanks for the advice. It is potted in lava, akadama, and pumice under that moss. I literally just plucked some shreds of moss off the tree by our back door last year, placed it around the base of the bonsai, and it grew to cover. But will look to repot it with a more level surface and trim anything dead.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Please don’t trim the juniper now. Junipers carry their strength in the foliage and the tree has taken a hit. Let it grow out for another year and trim in mid simmer. If you treat it well and get it strong, a young nana juniper will backbud.

If the tree has been in the pot for three years you might repot. It’s a smallish pot.

Personally see no issue with the moss at this point as long as one knows how to water the tree properly. All my trees have moss on them and they seem to thrive and dont dry as fast. Yet use a combination of moss off the sidewalk/brickwork and NZ sphagnum moss 50/50 mixed instead of tree moss as it sticks better on bonsai media vs tree moss… best moss is called yamagoke or mountain moss.

As far as making the surface flat, if one repots, that’s a good idea. Yet if one knows how to water…. Not much of an issue.

Now if one wants to show the tree…. not so good to have the surface higher then the pot lip unless one is a big name in bonsai… then it’s possible to break all sorts of rules and people will love it

cheers
DSD sends

 

[bwaynef]

img 2674 looks like turface, which is what prompted my repotting comments. I stand by those sentiments. If you're not confident, you may find someone who is experienced to help you repot. Repotting into good soil is the #1 thing you can do that will cause this tree to be invigorated. Removing dead/weak foliage and then leaving it to grow unfettered will be the next best thing to cause vigorous growth.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

All good with removing dead foliage or that on the underside of branches. Repot as stated is also on the table. Don’t prefer turface, although some folks swear by it.

btw There is a PSBA meeting
UW Center for Urban Horticulture – 7:00PM to 9:00PM

• Monday, February 26th – Guest artist Andrew Robson - first presenter of the season!

Bring the tree and ask one of the members if they can have someone take a look at it if you are unsure.

A whole bunch of helpful folks, including myself and the better half, will be there.

Cheers
DSD sends